Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is an all-new high fantasy spin-off of the Borderlands franchise. If you’ve never felt like the Borderlands vibe was right for you, this is one upcoming title to keep an eye on.
The Borderlands formula hasn’t changed much over the years. They are first-person shooters buttressed by RPG elements. You can choose from one of four base characters, all of which can be levelled up in different ways. Players that enjoy creating specific and powerful builds love Borderlands for this reason. With its billions of weapon combinations and satisfying gunplay, it’s been a favourite of action RPG fans looking for something with some punch.
Does Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands have a release date?
It does! Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands launches March 25, 2022, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. There is a special edition available for preorder called the Chaotic Great Edition.
Sounds good. Got a trailer?
Sure do. Here’s the original announcement trailer featuring J-pop metal fusion group Babymetal:
And the official story trailer, which paints a clearer picture about exactly what is happening in the game.
What’s the story in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands about?
Gearbox is keeping the story of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands under wraps for the time being. However, it’s not that difficult to piece together the game’s likely arc. Gearbox has said that it directly follows Borderlands 2‘s Assault on Dragon Keep DLC.
There, Tiny Tina runs a game of Bunkers & Badasses for her friends Mordecai, Lilith and Brick, three of the four Vault Hunters from the original Borderlands. Tina’s story roughly followed the events of Borderlands 2, though twisted and deformed by her own cracked lens. It’s a tale of heroism, friendship, and, as Tina puts it, boom-booms. Its third and final act was a surprisingly moving meditation on grief and how to process the death of a dear friend. The emotional sincerity of its finale and its willingness to engage honestly with its characters’ pain won it a lot of praise from fans and critics alike. This was new for Borderlands, a series that has always taken fart jokes over genuine character work.
Will Tina Tina’s Wonderlands follow a similar trajectory? One can only wonder.
Ashly Burch is playing Tiny Tina again though right?
She is! Ashly Burch appears in two major games in March: Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Horizon: Forbidden West. Her performance as Tina is one of her most beloved and it’s great to know that she will be returning to the role here.
Burch is not the only big name to be attached to Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands though. Also on the call sheet: Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Wanda Sykes (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Black-ish).
What’s the gameplay in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands like?
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes all of the elements of a Borderlands game and applies them to a Dungeons & Dragons inspired high fantasy setting. That means magic, guns, and magic guns.
Indeed, one of the big changes Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands makes to the Borderlands formula is that it dumps grenades entirely. Instead, players can cast spells. The list of spells appears to be quite varied, and all of them look like they’re on a cooldown. Depending on how you want to use your level-ups, this could create a lot of new build opportunities. Do you want to pump points into skills that allow you to produce more spells, more quickly? Or perhaps a character that plays more of a support role, dropping cooldowns for themselves and their fellow party members?
Beyond that, you’ll be playing much as you usually would a Borderlands game. Find guns, use guns, find better guns, use those guns. Look for abilities to combine with those of your party members to create synergies. Search for guns that compliment your ever-evolving character build. Create chaos.
Are there any new character classes?
There are! Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has two new classes for players to try out: the Stabbomancers and the Brr-Zerkers. The Stabbomancers are, plainly, all about knives and magic and the beautiful martial artworks that result when the two are combined. Brr-Zerkers are a weird combination of frost damage and melee classes. Have you ever punched someone so hard they became frozen in a block of ice? Now you can.
Does Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands have a map?
It does! Wearing its TTRPG inspirations directly on its sleeve, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has a world map displaying every major town and camp in the game world. We know about four areas so far: Brighthoof, Sunfang Oasis, the Tangledrift, and Butt Stallion’s Castle.
Brighthoof is the capital of the Wonderlands and is protected by the Diamond Guard. What is known about this area is that must regularly repel enemy incursions and attacks.
Sunfang Oasis is a desert paradise, filled with lush greenery and deep lagoons. Its many ruins and temples are haunted by the Coiled. We don’t know much about these guys yet but it sounds like they might be snake people? We look forward to finding out.
Tangledrift: This is a giant, vertical beanstalk that has grown so immense that it is now home to a thriving society. People have built homes into the side of the giant plant, and live in the sky, far from the monsters below.
That just leaves one other location.
What the hell is a Butt Stallion?
Butt Stallion is a magical diamond binacorn and the crowned ruler of Brighthoof, which is the seat of its power. Butt Stallion’s Castle sits at the centre of Brighthoof.
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